Why are Americans so Patriotic?

[Shoggoth2588]

The thing is, I don't think many of us are all that patriotic. It's just that there are a ton of vocal Americans who are and there are some people who just won't shut the hell up. I actually remember back when Obama was elected or, shortly after he took office there being some story or other on Fox or some similar source talking about Americans hating America or, not being patriotic enough. It stemmed from someone or other asking Obama what he thought of the current state of the nation and, he didn't proclaim our superiority.

Long story short, a lot of the most vocal Americans are either the ones who know in their heart-of-hearts that the U.S. is the best country ever or they know in their heart-of-hearts that we're all fucked. I just think there are more patriotic ones than doomy, gloomy ones.

 

[wolf92]

Let them have their patriotism.

Their country is still new, they still have time to do a few more war crimes, maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

You're only young once.


*sips tea*

Yes, quite.

We've killed Natives. Native Americans. We also did some colonizing. Granted, not a whole lot, but that's how we got Hawaii.

 

[similar.squirrel]

..maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

Erm. I'm getting the impression of a glaring oversight here.

Nope.

I'm pretty sure those were British colonists.

But didn't they keep doing after they achieved independence?

 

[Noyourjoanzy]

Patriotism is just some government plot to distract people of crappy economics or an economic down turn which leads to militarism. Which is why Nazi Germany was so damn nationalistic and militaristic.

So why is America so patriotic because there is a large earnings disparity and they don't want people to notice because then they would do something about it.
But this has lead to them spending so much on military spending that it's kinda screwed there economy.
Sure it makes COD and Battle field entertaining, which is great, because that's another way to distract people from the issues.

You're welcome

 

[Marik Bentusi]

Yeah, probably vocal minority.

As a German, this concept of patriotism is completely alien to me. I can barely generalize two people, yet patriotism condenses entire generations of millions of people into one abstract heroic something called a nation, with a character and personality you're supposed to protect and defend.

Or maybe I just grew up with too much globalization and internet. Stuff like nationality or skin color never really mattered for me.

 

[Wushu Panda]

Let them have their patriotism.

Their country is still new, they still have time to do a few more war crimes, maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

You're only young once.


*sips tea*

Yes, quite.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

 

[BoogieManFL]

The best way I can describe it is like this:


Are you just going to sit there and say, "Yea, I guess you're right." Or are you going to punch his lights out? Neither response may be perfect in an ideal world, but it's the only way I can describe American patriotism.

I agree with that point, theres nothing wrong with some patriotism, but the point is, all lot of americans (not all, just the ones often noticed) have a tendence to take it too far. To use your annology;

You're sitting in a pub with your wife. She's pretty, she's not perfect, and she does some annoying things from time to time, but you love her with all your being. Your look around the room, and see lots of other happy couples and decide your wife is better than theirs. You procced to get up and move around the room shoving you wife in the face of all the other men shouting "HAHA my wifes so much better than yours!" and punching anyone who tries to disagree.

"I agree with that point, theres nothing wrong with some patriotism, but the point is, all lot of americans (not all, just the ones often noticed)"

With that I fail to see your point. There are assholes in every culture across the world. I've lived in America for all my nearly 32 years of life and I know the vast majority of people here could not be described in that way at all.

So what if a few do? What does that have to do with Americans in general? That's why I said in my previous post that these discussions are pointless. If you really understand it, it all must inevitably boil down to "Some people are assholes, some are not."

 

[IamLEAM1983]

it might be just an unfair stereotype, but it's generally believed that if you badmouth america, any nearby americans will go up in arms and get very angry, and i'm just wondering why. Just to clarify, i have nothing against america, but i hardly think it's anything to write home about. and don't say that anyone would be that way about their home country, because if someone came up to be and said "hey, england's crap!" i'd just say "yeah, it is a bit"

I couldn't tell you about America. Most of the friends I have across the border aren't terribly patriotic. They have a certain sense of pride about being in their country, but not the overblown, flag-waving kind you're probably thinking about. I'd probably be better off in saying that they have a certain awareness of the ubiquitous nature of American culture, and that they like being in the center of it.

As a Canadian, I just don't get it. I live in Quebec, I speak French and English, but I'm not exactly a flag-waver, not for my country or my province. Quebec is where I live, where I study and where I work. It isn't much else to me. My parents having a strong nationalistic bend, this statement would probably ruffle their feathers a bit.

Still, I'm concerned with how Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, is trying to turn my country into Bizarro America. Switch the star-spangled banner for portraits of Queen Victoria and that would pretty much be it. We're just short of having the same absence of gun control, and Harper's caressing the dream of equipping us with F18s, decent aircraft carriers and other things of that nature. Canada's been a peacekeeping nation for decades, and he'd instead like it if we turned to warmongers. I'm sure other Canadians on the board are going to either object to my opinion or agree with me, but I certainly don't agree with my PM.

We even have our Creationist loonies, too. Head for the Prairies and look for giant inflatable dinosaurs!

 

[Kopikatsu]

Let them have their patriotism.

Their country is still new, they still have time to do a few more war crimes, maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

You're only young once.


*sips tea*

Yes, quite.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Now that you mention it, Washington was a right asshole, wasn't he?

Edit: On second thought, all of our Presidents are either assholes or were so ineffectual that nobody even remembers them.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Fear.

They are afraid that their country is not as good as they want to believe it is. They are so desperate to 'prove themselves' to the world, that the will charge into any conflict that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.

Since they have somehow become the 'Leader of the Free World', something I still cannot figure out, they feel that they have douchebag trumpeting rights.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

..maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

Erm. I'm getting the impression of a glaring oversight here.

Nope.

I'm pretty sure those were British colonists.

But didn't they keep doing after they achieved independence?

Probably, but I don't count it :3

 

[jonyboy13]

I believe Mr. Maher has something to say about that.

A lot of Americans are patriotic due to brain wash. Because that's what politicians do when they fail at something and need the public to still have faith in them.

 

[mechman123]

I am inclined to disagree with the notion that America is currently being patriotic; instead i would say we are currently in a states of nervous vocal nationalism. Nationalism and Patriotism are similar things but i believe the behavior is different with different results. To put My thoughts simply:

+Patriots are individuals who protect a nation out of love for it selflessly."I will defend your rights, even if we don't see eye to eye. ""

+Nationals are individuals in a mass of others who personalize a nation and protect it out of pride, it is part of their ego. "You are either with us or against us."

And unfortunately history has shown us that Nationalism is far more dangerous than Patriotism.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

The thing about America is that it is NOT a single culture. We're an incredibly mixed culture with much variation.

If you said that America was crap, yes, a fair number of Americans would get pissy about it, but equally many would agree with you completely.

The difference in culture between the ultra conservative Texas, the nanny-stateist California and New York, the meth-dealing Tenessee, and the other states...It's like lumping France in with Latvia as far as culture goes. Sure, they're both European and share a "similar" history, but the similarities stop there.

Even the laws among states are very different, and the education system in some states REALLY pushes patriotism while other states don't at all.

So, in conclusion, yes, I would say that it's a bit of an unfair stereotype. Although, simple patriotism isn't the same as having an aneurism over making fun of the US. I have "pride" in what the US *used* to stand for, the *concept* of rights that the US says it supports yet doesn't. But I digress...

Indeed. I consider myself a patriot in the sense that love the IDEALS of the United States of America, as laid in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the ideals that all people are created politically equal, that all have unalienable rights, that the government only rules by the consent of the governed, etc, etc, etc.

At the same time, I don't go around calling myself a "patriot" because "patriotism" has idiotically become associated with the Tea Party/Glenn Beck types...and that's just... *shudders*

So yeah, I love my country's ideals, but that doesn't mean that I love everything about my country and it certainly doesn't mean that I love my government.

If someone said to me, "America sucks!"

I'd say, "What exactly about America sucks?"

And if they said, "Glenn Beck, the liberal/conservative political extremism, ignorant rednecks, people who go around with an 'America! F*** yeah!' attitude...THAT is what sucks about America!"

I would say, "Oh yeah, that stuff sucks big time."

 

[BoogieManFL]

Fear.

They are afraid that their country is not as good as they want to believe it is. They are so desperate to 'prove themselves' to the world, that the will charge into any conflict that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.

Since they have somehow become the 'Leader of the Free World', something I still cannot figure out, they feel that they have douchebag trumpeting rights.

Thank you for illustrating so brilliantly what a mindless automaton looks like.

Surely, the media and the decisions of a few are obviously enough to label over 300 million people from every race and religion on the planet into one negative little category.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

What's wrong with having pride in your country? If you love where you live you should defend it, I'm not saying beat the tar out of anyone who dislikes America or anything but when did liking where you live become a bad thing?

^this

honestly why do other people seem to care so much about how us Americans? I hate to sound arrogant, but I never see threads about how some American has an issue with a European country and their politics (non video game politics). Yet like clock work, I see Europeans starting threads like why they don't like America or about how there must be something wrong with it. Honestly, are we the only other place the Europeans focus on besides themselves? (End rant)

 

[Baconmonster723]

..maybe colonise some places, kill the natives etc.

Erm. I'm getting the impression of a glaring oversight here.

Nope.

I'm pretty sure those were British colonists.

I believe he's referring to good old American Manifest Destiny and the "colonization" of the west. We may not have a rich history in colonizing, but dammit if we couldn't be like our big bro England. We had to go and damn near wipe out all of the Native American tribes residing between the Pacific and the Mississippi.

OT: We're patriotic because we can be. Our country is good enough that we can brag about it, and powerful enough that people aren't wanna mess with it. Now don't confuse patriotism with nationalism. I'm one of the most patriotic people you'll ever find. I LOVE my country despite its faults. We're both young (the country and myself), but it's time that we grew up a little. But don't mistake most of us for being nationalistic. We love our country, but we don't hate yours.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Fear.

They are afraid that their country is not as good as they want to believe it is. They are so desperate to 'prove themselves' to the world, that the will charge into any conflict that has NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.

Since they have somehow become the 'Leader of the Free World', something I still cannot figure out, they feel that they have douchebag trumpeting rights.

Thank you for illustrating so brilliantly what a mindless automaton looks like.

Surely, the media and the decisions of a few are obviously enough to label over 300 million people from every race and religion on the planet into one negative little category.

*Looks around confused*

Oh, I'm sorry... Did my personal opinion offend you?

If the USA was more concerned what was occuring in their own backyard than their neighbours, then I would very happily re-evaluate my opinion. But as I am still hoping to see this event occur, unfortunately I have to stick with my 'biased' opinion.

 

[trollnystan]

the under god part is somewhat funny:
During the cold war Americans believed that the Russian government was telling its people that the government was equal to the religion. So basically its a way of saying that the government will not oppress your religions views like those darn Communist.

Really? I thought it was Christian lobbyists that got that put in. (link to wikipedia)

Where did you hear your version? Just curious =)

Never use wikipedia as a source. Never.

Anywho, the reason that the war on drugs started was because of anti-Chinese sentiment. Cheap Chinese labor was threatening to take jobs away from the native 'Mericans (Among other things), so they focused on getting rid of Opium dens in hopes that less Chinese would want to live in 'Merica.

I'm sorry, but I had a laundry time to catch; wikipedia is fast and if not always right it's not always wrong either. Here's a link that says that both me and @direkiller are right. (You have to scroll down towards the middle.) And another link.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

You know that being patriotic is actually part of our goal in public education here in the US right? I'm not even kidding. There is a reason that every morning, public school kids are made to stand and read the Pledge like we're goddamn Hitler youths.

It's mostly due to WWII and the Cold War. Especially the McCarthy cases. People got so scared about foreigners and it became all about how America is the fuckin' shit. Unfortunately, times have changed, but the attitudes of many current adults who were either born during those times or grew up during them have no yet changed with them.

Maybe its because I'm a Jew with grandparents from the Holocaust, so I'm just being overly sensitive, but please don't type that the Pledge of Allegiance is like the Hitler Youths. The two are not at all the same.